IPL 4 auction: Gambhir fetches record price of $2.4 million

BANGALORE: Opener Gautam Gambhir onSaturday became the costliest cricketer in the IPL by fetching a whopping $2.4million (approx Rs 11.04 crore) on the first day of the auctions where Indianplayers proved to be the biggest draw with three others going for more than $2million. Who gotwhom | TeamComposition | Players togo under hammer In a high-profile auction, where Bollywood starsand corporate bigwigs were locked in a bidding war, Kolkata Knight Riders boughtGambhir for the mind- boggling sum, beating the previous high set by the Englishduo of Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff ($1.55 million) lastseason. Shah Rukh Khan was not present in person but his KolkataKnight Riders, which had been reduced to an also-ran in the last two seasons,proved to be the big spender of the day by also buying hard-hitting all- roundersYusuf Pathan (Rs 9.66 crore) and Jacques Kallis (Rs 5.06 crore) for the fourthedition of event to be held from April 8 to May 20. Gambhir, who wascaptain of the Delhi Daredevils last season, saw his price skyrocket 12 timesfrom his base price of $200,000 (Rs 92 lakh) while three other Indian players --Yusuf ($2.1 million), Rohit Sharma ($2 million) and Robin Uthappa (2.1 million)crossed the two million mark. Yusuf's younger brother Irfan, who hasnot played any cricket this season, was taken by Delhi Daredevils for asurprisingly high amount of $1.9 (Rs 8.74 crore) million. But therewere some surprise names in the unsold list with former India and KKR captainSourav Ganguly, West Indies batting star Chris Gayle and the legendary BrianLara failing to find a buyer. There is still a slim chance of theseplayers finding a team after their names come up again in the second round ofbidding. The bidding trend at the auction at times appeared to defylogic but what was certain was that the franchises were willing to spend bigmoney on the Indian players. Mahela Jayawardene was the most expensive foreignplayer going to Kochi at $1.5 million (Rs 6.90 crore). Cricket aside,Bollywood stars Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty provided the glamour quotientwhile liquor baron Vijay Mallya, his son Siddharth, Nita Ambani and Nusli Wadiaadded the corporate aura at the auction. Cricketing brains such asAnil Kumble, Stephen Fleming, Geoff Lawson and Darren Lehmann, who have beenroped in either as coaches or mentors by the franchises, helped them work outthe bidding strategies. As expected, big money was spent but the wayit was spent on some players was baffling. Robin Uthappa, who has been out ofnational reckoning for quite some time, was bought for an astounding $2.1million (Rs 9.66 crore) by Sahara Pune Warriors who opened their account bybuying Yuvraj Singh for $1.8 million (Rs 8.28 crore approx). Pune gotYuvraj, the icon player of Kings XI Punjab till last season, after beating TeamKochi and the batsman's former team in the bid. Even Rohit Sharma'sprice of $2 million (Rs 9.2 crore), which Mumbai Indians paid, came as asurprise in an auction where proven T20 specialists such as Jesse Ryder,Herschelle Gibbs, Mark Boucher and Graeme Swann went unsold. Therewas intense bidding for Gambhir, who was the first player under the hammer, fromPune and Mumbai before KKR joined the fray after it crossed the million dollarmark. Kings XI Punjab also lost the bid of Sri Lankan MahelaJayawardene who was bought by Kochi for $1.5 million. The RoyalChallengers Bangalore bought Zaheer Khan for $900,000 and dashing Lankan openerTillakaratne Dilshan for $650,000. However, the Vijay Mallya- ownedfranchise had a prize catch in talented South African AB de Villiers, buying himfor $1.1 million (Rs 5.06 crore). They also got New Zealand captain DanielVettori for only $550,000. The Rajasthan Royals bought New Zealandbatsman Ross Taylor for $1 million (Rs 4.6 crore). But what turned out to be asurprise was South African off-spinner Johan Botha being bought after a lot ofbidding for $950,000. However, Kevin Pietersen, who was one of themost sought after players in the second and third edition, was bought by DeccanChargers for $650,000 much less than his million dollar price in the earlieryears. Andrew Symonds, who was one of the costliest players duringseason one, was bought for $850,000 by Mumbai Indians. After thefirst two rounds, Team Kochi had bought the maximum five players (MahelaJayawardene, Brendon McCullum, VVS Laxman, S Sreesanth and Rudra PratapSingh). Kochi were quite lucky to buy McCullum for as low a price as $475,000 considering his reputation as a T20 dasher. Sahara PuneWarriors were also a gainer as they got South African captain Graeme Smith for $500,000 only. Kings XI Punjab who lost all their key playersincluding the Lankan duo of Kumar Sangakkara (bought by Deccan Chargers for $650,000) and Jayawardene ($1.5 million for Kochi) and Yuvraj to Pune finallyhad something to cheer when they successfully bid for former Australianwicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist for $900,000. After the lunch break,there were some more surprises with the young Saurabh Tiwary bought by RoyalChallengers Bangalore for $1.6 million (Rs 7.36 crore). Punjab also spent $1.4million (approx Rs 6.34 crore) on Australian David Hussey. SouthAfrican speedster Dale Steyn, who made life difficult for Indian batsmen duringthe recent drawn Test series, was bought by Deccan Chargers for $1.2 million (Rs5.5 crore). Australia's injury-plagued speedster Brett Lee went forhis base price of $400,000 to Kolkata after failing to invite a bid for quite awhile in the auction. South Africans were hot picks at the auctionwith Steyn's pace partner Morne Morkel going to Delhi at$475,000. The run-up to the auction was marred by legal wranglingbetween the BCCI and two franchise -- Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab --both of whom were initially booted out of the event over ownership issues beforecoming back through court orders.

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